Construction Accidents

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2.4 reportable injuries per 100 construction workers for a total of 3,238 reportable Louisiana construction injuries. The highest number of reportable injuries were found in residential building construction (4.2 per 100 employees), highway, street and bridge construction (3.6 per 100 employees) and foundation, structure and building exterior contractors (5.6 per 100 employees).

Injuries and deaths occur despite written safety manuals, safety checklists and weekly safety meetings. Generally, an injured worker cannot sue his or her own employer for work related injuries. The injured workers remedy is in receiving workers compensation benefits; however, if the injured worker can successfully demonstrate a third party’s negligence caused the injuries, that third party can be held liable.

Some potential third parties may be the owners, general contractors, construction managers, design engineers, inspectors, subcontractors and other workers and perhaps even the manufacturers of defective equipment.

Construction work is physically demanding and dangerous. There are often many workers and heavy, technical machinery on one site. In addition, projects are under strict deadlines, and there are major consequences for a delayed finish. The large number of people, complicated machinery, and rushed work due to time constraints sometimes causes accidents and lapses in safety procedures.

Construction has approximately 6% of United States workers, but they are 20% of the fatalities—the largest number of fatalities reported for any industry sector. A whopping 1 out of 10 construction workers are injured or killed every year.

In fact, nationally out of 3,945 worker fatalities in private industry in 2012, 775 (19.6%) were in construction. The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, followed by struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/between. These “Fatal Four” were responsible for nearly three out of five (56%) construction worker deaths in 2012. Eliminating the Fatal Four would save 435 workers’ lives in America every year.

Falls – 278 out of 775 total deaths in construction (36%)

Struck by Object – 78 (10%)

Electrocutions – 66 (9%)

Caught-in/between – 13 (2%)

The Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals and the Occupational Health & Injury Surveillance Program reported that on average, 26 construction workers die every year in Louisiana for work-related injuries. Transportation accidents (excluding commuting to and from work) were reported as the leading cause of construction accidents (30%), followed by falls (25%), exposure to harmful substances or environments (22%) (which includes contact with chemicals, electrocution, extreme temperatures, oxygen-depleted spaces and drowning), contact with objects or equipment (19%), and other (5%) (which includes assaults/violent acts and fire/explosions).